The Kremlin has joined the world in condemning the test in North Korea, which caused an "artificial earthquake" this morning.

Tubby tyrant Kim Jong-un has long spoken of the need for his country to bolster its nuclear capabilities, saying it was needed to protect against "US aggression".

Russian news agencies cite a Kremlin spokesman as saying that Moscow has been left "extremely worried" by the test.

Kim Jong-Un in pictures

Thursday, 17th November 2016

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in pictures.

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Kim Jong-Un pictured with a gun

“President Vladimir Putin has ordered to study thoroughly the readings of all monitoring stations, including seismological ones, and analyse the situation in case the reports about the (H-bomb) test are confirmed”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov

Dmitry Peskov said: "President Vladimir Putin has ordered to study thoroughly the readings of all monitoring stations, including seismological ones, and analyse the situation in case the reports about the (H-bomb) test are confirmed."

Meanwhile the Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: "Such actions are fraught with further aggravation of the situation on the Korean peninsula, which is anyway marked by very high potential of military and political confrontation."

The H-bomb test, proclaimed as a major increase in military might by Pyongyang, has been condemned across the world.

GETTY/AFP

OMINOUS: Kim-Jong un signs the paperwork relevant to the missile test

NATO has called on North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons, while Germany, France, the EU, Australia, South Korea, China and Japan among leading bodies to criticise the move.

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said it showed the threat North Korea poses to international security.

He said: "It underlines the very real threat that North Korea represents to regional and international security.

"We will be working with other UN Security Council members to ensure the international community responds urgently and decisively to this latest activity."